Teen indicted on JDHS rape charges

David A. Northcut, 18, graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School on June 6. Ten days later he was arrested in San Ysidro, Calif., attempting to travel from Mexico into the United States, where authorities discovered he was wanted on a felony arrest warrant out of Juneau.

Northcut is scheduled to be arraigned today in Superior Court. He has been held in the Lemon Creek Correctional Center. On July 9, Juneau District Court Judge John W. Sivertsen Jr. set his bail at $100,000.

The five-count indictment handed down by the grand jury Friday includes two counts of first-degree sexual assault and shows the grand jury found Northcut's criminal history added to the severity of the charges. It states that Northcut's juvenile record includes "adjudication for conduct that would have been a felony if committed as an adult."

Assistant District Attorney Doug Gardner presented the case to the grand jury. He said Monday that he could not comment on Northcut's juvenile criminal record.

Northcut turned 18 in February. Criminal records through the juvenile court system are not open to the public.

Juneau Police Sgt. Troy Wilson, one of two witnesses to testify before the grand jury, said Monday he could say nothing.

"I'm not going to comment on his juvenile record," he said.

The indictment, like the warrant, charged Northcut with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and one count of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

The indictment alleges the assault occurred at about 8 a.m. May 28, the last Friday of the school year, in the high school's Marie Drake annex. According to the affidavit sworn by Gardner when he applied for the arrest warrant, police questioned Northcut before he left Juneau on June 9.

Vince Bond, public information officer for the San Ysidro Port of Entry, south of San Diego, told the Empire that Northcut attempted to cross from Mexico into the United States at 9:30 p.m. June 16. He said there is no record of why Northcut was referred to the secondary inspection station, but while there, the arrest warrant was discovered.

Bond said about 1,800 people a year are arrested on outstanding felony warrants at the port, and the case didn't stand out. He said the documents do not indicate if charges were filed related to any border offense.

Gardner said he didn't know if there were any additional charges relating to the border stop. He said the prosecution's previous statement that Northcut was "caught in California smuggling illegal aliens" was based on information received at the border.